Green Initiatives

Hotel Valley Ho strives to be environmentally-friendly. The restoration of the hotel itself contributed to the well-being of the environment. By restoring and not tearing down the Valley Ho in 2005, Westroc Hotels & Resorts saved 20,000 tons of landfill waste and debris. Since its opening, the hotel has participated in various green efforts including:

Protecting The Environment

• The housekeeping department uses green-certified chemicals.
• Red Flower amenities in every guest room and VH Spa are paraben-free, organic, biodegradable, and in containers made from recycled materials. 
• All in-room linen is cleaned with hydrogen peroxide instead of harmful bleaches.
• The hotel’s dry cleaning service uses Green Jet for certain garments, a cleaning machine that uses non-toxic cleaning fluid and creates no hazardous waste.
• The hotel participates in the 'Adopt-A-Road' program, cleaning and taking care of Scottsdale Road between Indian School and Camelback.
• No herbicides are used for landscaping, and pesticides are not used on plants.
• All interior and exterior paint contains no VOCs.
• Kitchen cooking oil is recycled; some kitchen waste is composted in the chef’s herb garden.

     Saving Energy

• The hotel’s brick and mortar construction keeps temperatures more constant in guest rooms.
• During restoration, heavy dual pane glass was placed in all guest rooms, keeping rooms cooler and requiring less energy for heating and cooling.
• Compact and energy-efficient fluorescent lights are used throughout the property, including guest rooms. These light bulbs are also recycled.
• Every vacant guest room has the drapes closed to reduce sunlight and heat, with temperatures set higher to reduce energy used for air conditioning.
• During cooler months, water is chilled through cooling towers instead of a Freon-based chiller system.
• Employees shut down their computers every night.
• Executive Chef Charles Wiley uses local food purveyors and local ingredients, thereby saving on "food miles" (the distance food has to travel from supplier to destination).
• Hotel Valley Ho uses the local office supply company Wist for all hotel office supplies, saving energy on transporting and shipping supplies.

     Conserving Resources
 

• All shower heads, faucets, and toilets are low-flow.
• Guests have the option of conserving water by reusing their towels and bed linens.
• Gently-worn linens are donated to a local domestic violence shelter; more heavily-worn linens are donated to a local animal shelter.
• Hotel Valley Ho participates in the Clean the World program; all soap, shampoo, and other in-room amenities are collected, cleaned, and recycled for use in developing countries. Read the press release.
• The hotel's recycled magazines, phone books, cardboard, cans, and bottles average 5 tons per month. View the recycling report for May 2010. 
• Guests have the option of paperless check-out, through their guest room TV.
• The hotel utilizes a cardboard baler to recycle all cardboard products.
• The hotel's advertising firm, Mullen Advertising, prints all hotel brochures and collateral on post-consumer recycled, FSC-certified paper. FSC-certified means the Forest Stewardship Council guarantees the paper comes from responsibly managed forests and verified recycled sources. 

     Green Awards + Recognition

• Received "Certified Green" designation from the Arizona Hotel and Lodging Association
• Nominated: Good Earth Keeping Award, 2009 Stars of the Industry Awards, Arizona Hotel and Lodging Association
• Green Award, Green by Design Awards, Scottsdale Convention and Visitor's Bureau. View the press release.
• Award of Merit, Environmental Excellence Awards Program, Valley Forward Association